The remaining Fo Lang warships rushed out despite gunfire and thick smoke, and rushed towards the Yansui. The artillery on several ships also began to roar and fire.
Intensive artillery fire illuminated the sea surface. The Yansui quickly maneuvered and completed the light control in an instant, disappearing from the sight of the Fo Lang robot. The Fo Lang robot had no choice but to cover the entire area with artillery fire and conduct a blanket bombardment.
After a moment of burning incense, the French soldiers on the Holy Grail battleship suddenly made a discovery. Just a few miles ahead of them, in the light and shadow of the artillery explosion, the figure of a huge ship appeared in front of them.
The Fo Lang robots on the Holy Grail suddenly felt like a pot was exploding. They foolishly fired at the place where the Yansui disappeared. Unexpectedly, the opponent had already reached the front of the formation.
The Yansui did not give the Holy Grail much time. The hull tilted sideways, and after a round of fierce artillery fire, the Holy Grail was hit by seven or eight shells. A fire broke out on the ship, and the fire spread quickly, illuminating the surrounding sea.
The Franco soldiers on the ship jumped into the water like dumplings and fled frantically for their lives.
However, the position of the Yansui was also exposed. The flagship of the Holy Cross and the other four warships were nearby. They immediately turned their guns and bombarded them while approaching.
Liu Dam had already thought about the follow-up. He wanted to sneak attack an enemy ship in the dark, and then turn around and leave. He would use the high maneuverability and anti-attack ability of the armored treasure ship to escape. Even if he took a few shots, Liu Dam would not be able to do anything.
Not afraid.
The flexibility of the Yansui was not commensurate with its huge body. The rotating paddles on both sides of the ship stirred up waves, and the rotating blades turned like windmills underwater. The huge propulsion force almost pushed the Yansui in place.
After pushing forward, it turned a corner, and the entire hull tilted nearly ten degrees inward, as if it was about to roll over.
This kind of extremely small radius U-turn and super flexibility are not what ships of this era should have.
Of course, in fact, for an ordinary large ship, this seems unnecessary. Because the turning of a large ship needs to be slow and steady, and there is no need to pursue a rapid U-turn with a very small radius.
However, for a warship, the role of maneuverability and flexibility in combat can be imagined.
In fact, except for the Yansui, no other ship in the Ming Dynasty's Invincible Fleet can do this. This is because the Yansui was severely damaged and underwent an overhaul. Feeling some insights from actual naval battles, Zhang Yanling was undergoing overhaul
At that time, I made a request to the craftsmen. In other words, it was not a request, but a design.
The design proposed by Mr. Guo was whether a flipping mechanism could be designed on the propelling rotating paddle. It could flip the paddle so that it could be pushed in the opposite direction. This idea shocked everyone.
After some research, several master builders solved this problem. They used the Yansui as a test ship and made structural changes on their rotating propellers so that these propellers could be flipped. Through a specific wooden
Wheel structure progress
The direction of the rotating blades changes, turning forward into backward. With this change, the Yansui became the first ship that can sail backwards. When turning, it can push forward on one side and pull back on the other.
It forms a resultant force and can make a U-turn within a very small radius.
However, after adding a conversion shaft to this device, it will have some impact on the navigation of the ship. It will also have some bad effects on the structure of the paddle. So Zhang Yanling finally decided to recruit a large number of craftsmen to carry out design improvements in this area in the future.
To ensure that this idea is perfectly implemented.
However, the modified paddle structure on the Yansui has been preserved. It is precisely because of the modifications on the Yansui that Liu Tan dared to do this. Because he was confident that he could quickly escape the siege of the Fo Langji.
This is exactly what happened. The Yansui quickly turned around and evacuated quickly. The stern of the ship was hit by several shots, but the armor withstood the pressure and did not suffer much damage. Instead, the ship's Tiger Howling Cannon fired repeatedly, and an iron bullet hit the ship.
The deck of the flagship Holy Cross penetrated the side wall of the cabin, causing Commander Fo Langji in the cabin to scream in shock.
After several maneuvers and with the cover of darkness, the Yansui escaped from the enemy's encirclement and artillery fire and retreated. Liu Tan stood in the ship's hall with a solemn expression, scanning the sea with bright eyes, keeping an eye on the enemy's movements.
Liu Tan just turned 40 this year. He was originally from a poor family. He joined the army at the age of fifteen to make a living and guarded the border in Yansui Town. Because of his pragmatism and bravery in battle, he was promoted to a small flag officer a few years later.
In the ninth year of Hongzhi, the Tatars attacked the Great Wall Pass of Yansuibian Town. Thousands of Tatars stormed the pass and broke through three passes before finally reaching Goat Pass. Goat Pass was the last city wall pass. After crossing Goat Pass, you could drive straight in and enter Yan.
In the inland area of Suizhen, Liu Tan and his thirty soldiers were stationed here.
In that battle, Liu Tan and 30 soldiers held on for two days and one night, saving only seven people from death. With the strong pass, they repelled more than ten Tatar attacks one after another, and just waited until reinforcements arrived from the rear.
The Tatars were surrounded and strangled by the border troops in Yansui Town, with thousands of casualties, and finally had to return in defeat. When the Ming army soldiers collected the corpses at the pass, they dragged Liu Tan out of the pile of dead people. Liu Tan had nine wounds on his body.
After walking away from hell, I came back.
After that, it took me half a year to recover from the injury. There is still an iron arrowhead in the thigh meat that has not been dug out. Because it was too close to the blood vessel, I did not dare to dig out the arrowhead, so I just cut off the arrow shaft and sutured the wound. Until now,
Every time it rains, Liu Tan still suffers from soreness and numbness in his legs, which is extremely painful.
Although that battle almost killed him, it also caused great damage to his body and brought great pain to his life. However, the bravery and fearlessness he showed in that battle also made him
He became famous in the army.
Later, the regiments in the capital selected outstanding soldiers and generals from all over the country. Because of this battle, he was selected into the Zhenwei Battalion as the general flag. Over more than ten years later, he slowly rose through the ranks and became a leader of the Zhenwei Battalion.
A mid-level general and became one of several generals.
Liu Tan actually did not adapt to the life in Jingying. He was born in poverty and couldn't stand the exaggerated and corrupt life of the generals in Jingying. He had been guarding the border in the border town for many years, and he was not used to the idle laziness of Jingying. But there was no way, Jingying
The atmosphere was like this, and he couldn't change it. Liu Tan didn't mess around with them, but seemed a little out of place.
But Liu Tan has never indulged himself in the laxity of the Beijing camp. Over the years, he has also read a lot of military books and studied combat methods. Although he does not know the meaning of doing so, he is not willing to live like this all his life. He always feels that
It will be useful.
When Admiral Zhang Yanling took charge of Zhenwei Camp, Liu Tan had a good first impression of him. Because Zhang Yanling opened his mouth and told about his battle at Goat Pass. This shows that Zhang Yanling, who was still the Marquis at the time, was sincere towards them.
What this Marquis did later gave Liu Tan hope. He rectified Zhenwei Camp, forcibly trained Zhenwei Camp, corrected the atmosphere, and eliminated a group of people. At first, he was a secret figure in Zhenwei Camp.
Everyone said weird things about him, but Liu Tan never said it because he saw the ambition of the young marquis. He was a person who did things.
Later, following Zhang Yanling's efforts to calm the King's Rebellion and the Liu Chong Rebellion, Liu Tan got to see Zhang Yanling's demeanor. Although he was more than ten years older than Zhang Yanling, he was full of respect and admiration for Zhang Yanling in his heart. Liu Tan
I knew in my heart that by following Zhang Yanling, I might be able to fulfill my lifelong ambition.
Liu Tan was very excited about building a fleet to go to sea, opening up maritime trade routes, and reviving the glory of Zheng He's fleet. Liu Tan was very excited about such a great achievement. He also knew that the purpose of building warships by the Protector must be to fight at sea, because
The battle with the Francois is inevitable.
Therefore, during the preparation of the fleet for more than a year, Liu Tan consulted many navy generals to learn naval warfare strategies in order to be able to show off his skills. Zhang Yanling also trusted Liu Tan and handed the Yansui to him.
Command and let him become an important leader in the army. How much trust and respect this shows.
Moreover, the name of the ship Yansui is also very meaningful. It was in the border town of Yansui that he became famous in the army. The battle of Goat Pass on the Yansui Great Wall was the highlight of his first half of life. The Protector General Yansui
The ironclad ship was given to me to command, which must contain this kind of approval and expectation. Let me command the Yansui and recreate the glory of the year at Yansui Goat Pass.
Of course, Lord Protector never said clearly that all of this was Liu Tan's own thoughts. But since he went to sea to fight, he has indeed gone all out.
This time, when the Duke ordered him to guard this deep water channel, Liu Tan was deeply moved. It was the trust of the Duke that allowed him to shoulder such a heavy responsibility. The situation today is similar to the bloody battle at Goat Pass.
They have the same purpose. The enemy is also powerful and numerous, and he is also guarding the pass, but it is just a waterway pass. The difference is that he is more determined and has more means than before, and the ships and firearms he uses to fight are even more powerful.
.
In today's battle, Liu Dam's performance so far has been perfect. He is confident that he can defend this place, and he will definitely be able to defend it.
Liu Tan looked at the sea with a solemn expression. Several enemy warships in the rear had lost their targets and were firing cannons at the sea in vain and blindly. Liu Tan's plan was to roundabout to the east and then fight back.
He has already set his sights on another Folan warship. It is better to use surprise bombardment.
Hit and damage is the target, and sinking is the best. Take off with one hit, making full use of firepower and maneuverability, as well as the protective power of the armored ship. It is impossible for the opponent to attack all in this narrow channel. So with this kind of zero
The way of knocking on brown sugar makes the other party feel pain. Delaying the other party is victory.
At this moment, Liu Tan suddenly saw the figure of a huge warship coming from the east side. He was stunned and recognized that it was Zhang Mazi's Ningxia. The Ningxia was originally blocked in the east sea area, why?
Coming towards me? And there was no blackout, the lights on the ship were bright.
"What is he doing?" Liu Tan shouted in shock.
"I don't know, they seem to be heading for the enemy ship. Could it be...could it be that they thought we were in a hurry and came to rescue us? They attracted the firepower of the enemy ship to help us escape from the difficulty?" the general under his command frowned.
Liu Tan woke up with a start. The adjutant was right, I'm afraid that's exactly what happened. Feng Mazi's Ningxia rushed toward several ships in the south with its lights on. If it wasn't for rescue, what was it?
Liu Tan was going crazy. What did he want him to save? He had already put out the lights and was out of sight of the other party. The other party had lost its target, which could be seen from the cannons they fired randomly.
"Feng Mazi, Feng Mazi, you have ruined my big thing. You really... ah... sent an order, played the lantern signal, and ordered the Ningxia to retreat quickly. Return to the eastern sea area. Quickly." Liu Tan stamped his feet.
, while shouting.
"General Liu, if we use the light signal, our position will be exposed." The deputy general said solemnly.
How could Liu Tan not know that this would be the case, but he could only do this.
"I can't care less. I suspect that the other side has an attacking warship on the east side, so they just implemented a blackout. If the Ningxia doesn't retreat, it will be equal to giving way to the channel. Feng Mazi, I'm afraid the big thing will be in your hands."